Dutton Ranch is officially here, and to my surprise… Yellowstone fans are absolutely loving it. Why is that a surprise? Well, because by the end of Yellowstone, and even throughout much of 1923, fans complained A LOT about Taylor Sheridan and his western drama universe. Read the Reddit threads, read through Instagram and X comments… maybe it was just the online chatter, but it almost felt like folks were just hate-watching by the final season.
However… Dutton Ranch appears to be an overwhelming success. Again… reading the Reddit threads, reading the social media commentary, even reading the critics on Rotten Tomatoes (who presumably think Taylor Sheridan is a right-wing, MAGA-loving Republican), have given the show high scores.
And for me, two episodes in, it does feel like a very familiar return to form for Taylor Sheridan and company (although Taylor didn’t write this first season himself… he’s the executive producer). Rip and Beth’s desire to build a peaceful life away from the chaos of their former lives feels very believable, Carter’s growth as a character has been fun to watch and will seemingly take the next step with this series, new characters like Beulah Jackson and Everett McKinney, as well as the Jackson boys are pretty compelling… I dig it. And the south Texas vibe is a bit refreshing now that the Duttons have left the mountain setting of Montana. It’s still picturesque, but in a different way. The music is also great once again.
However, despite the show being off to a roaring start, some fans have pointed out a pretty interesting plot hole with the new spinoff series. Well, maybe not so much as a plot hole as something that’s just a bit head-scratching.
Dutton Ranch Plot Hole?
First of all, if you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, I don’t want to get into any big spoilers so no worries, but I will explain why the Duttons left Montana… if you don’t want to know that, scroll on through.
In the first episode, “The Untold Want,” we see Beth and Rip forced to move to the Lone Star State and start their ranch life over after their Montana ranch succumbs to a wildfire. But as a number of people pointed out on Reddit, didn’t the ranch have insurance? Uprooting your entire life and leaving the state where you have 7 generations of history and countless ranching connections seems a bit odd, right?
This was the question posed on Reddit:
“We know Beth is incredibly smart and financially savvy. There is no way she did not have proper insurance on the Montana ranch. So the whole moving to Texas thing because they can’t afford to rebuild in Montana is ridiculous.
I’m in the insurance business – it’s not even complicated to insure a ranch properly. They could even have had money to live somewhere else while being rebuilt as well as payment for temporary livestock care etc…”
Of course, we all know the practical reason is that Taylor Sheridan wants to film in his home state and most likely near his own property, but as far as the storyline is concerned, I don’t really get it either. Not to mention Rip’s who origin story of basically being an invisible person with no record of existing.
Other pointed out that perhaps the insurance money is what they used to buy the Texas property.
“I think the insurance money would have been what they used to buy the Edwards ranch. When they said it costs every nickel they had, it probably was a combination of what they had plus the insurance.”
Another commenter pointed out that it wasn’t about money, it was more about the logistics of getting back to work right away:
“A house burned down in my neighborhood and it took them over a year just to start the rebuilding process… I’m sure their ranch was insured, but with the whole town burned, how do you rebuild when all the infrastructure is gone? I don’t see it as they couldn’t afford to rebuild, but rather in order to get this operation up and moving again they needed to purchase an established working ranch.”
Others agreed:
“I don’t think it’s a plot hole. Having everything burnt to the ground – it would take awhile for them to be able to use the land again. They probably sold the land and moved on – since it would cost more than the insurance to rebuild everything and still not be able to use the grazing etc.”
However, that wasn’t the only question… perhaps even more head scratching is how Beth Dutton and her brother, Kayce Dutton, seemingly lost contact amid two pretty big tragedies. Kayce’s wife dies and Beth is nowhere to be seen. Beth and Rip’s ranch burns to the ground and Kayce is nowhere to be seen. Now obviously we’re talking about two separate shows and they have their very practical reasons for no overlap, but seems slightly unbelievable, right?
All in all, we’re talking about a television show here, one that has historically show a willingness to overlook some minor details for the sake of moving things along. It’s best to embrace it and not get too hung up with the details… I’d say that goes for just about everything on TV.
If you haven’t seen the new trailer yet, give it a look:
